Fireside Reads
Winter 2020
Had enough of current events for a while? Travel back in time to the small towns and villages of early Ulster County. The books below are a great way to learn your local history and not over-tax your stressed-out brain. Vintage pictures with just enough text to tantalize you into wanting more. Other great reads by local authors will make you feel more at home. These books make great gifts. Most are available online, others from the Town of LLoyd Historical Preservation Society: TOLHPS.org.
Image Based History Books
Mohonk: Mountain House & Preserve*
By Robi Josephson. Vintage photos of the Shawangunk resort and parklands.
Rosendale*
By Gilberto Villahermosa. Vintage postcard and other images depicting Rosendale’s colorful history.
Around Highland* **
By Ethan Jackman and Vivian Yess Wadlin. Vintage postcards and other images of Highland and surrounding villages.
Marlboro* **
Emily Amodeo, Joanne Sagarese Pagnotta & James B. Cosgrove
Vintage Marlborough and Milton images.
Kingston *
Patricia O’Reilly Murphy w/Friends of Historic Kingston
Vintage postcard images of Kingston
Life & Death of the Kingston Post Office
By Stephen Blauweiss and Karen Berkowitz.
Rails Above The Hudson **
The Poughkeepsie Bridge Route Joining New England and the West. Just published. By John M. Ham and Roger A. Liller with RR historian George E. Ford, Jr.
Other History Books
Kingston New York, The Architectural Guide
By William B. Rhoads, Photography by James Bleecker. A guide book w/ vintage & current images of Kingston & surroundings. Take it in your car and get more out of your trip. Amazing number of beautiful historic buildings have been saved and restored.
An Unforgiving Land: Hardscrabble Life in The Trapps, A Vanished Shawangunk Mountain Hamlet
By Robi Josephson and Bob Larsen. Detailed telling of the story of the Trapps Hamlet and its hardy inhabitants. Great gift for Shawangunk lovers.
Aaron Rhodes And His Home**
By Donna Deeprose, Story of the unfortunate destruction of the Rhodes House, Highland. Available from TOLHPS.org
Promised Land
By Carleton Mabee. The story of Father Divine’s interracial communities in Ulster County, NY. May be out of print. Check with sites such as Alibris.com.
Charles S. Keefe
By William B. Rhoads. The story of the Colonial Revival architect, Charles Keefe, his Kingston roots, and the homes he designed – many in Kingston.
* Arcadia Publishing books: Images of America or Postcard History Series.
** Available at TOLHPS.org
All books available in area bookstores and online except where otherwise noted.
